Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 46% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Below: maps from 1905 on and the census since 2000.
More historic than 46% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Hickory Township is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
Pennsylvania towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Pennsylvania town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Hickory Township’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (25% of Pennsylvania towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
Founding year: our sources. Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hickory Township’s history is told.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Hickory Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Hickory Township.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Hickory Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Hickory Township is a township in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,320 at the 2020 census, a decline from the figure of 2,470 tabulated in 2010.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 2,470 to 2,320 (-6%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Passages that mention Hickory Township, cut from the printed page as they were published.
farming in Iowa. Upon his return to Pennsylvania, he engaged in threshing for some time, then bought a small farm at the cross roads in Hickory Township, which he farmed for years. He moved to Neshannock Township and farmed three years, after which he returned to Hickory Township, locating on what is now the J. Nelson
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
About 1815-16 a round log schoolhouse was built near the south line of what is now Hickory Township, on the road running south from Neshannock United Presbyterian Church. A hewed log schoolhouse was put up in the corner of the graveyard, near the old Neshannock Church, about 1828-29. This was the only hewed log
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological SurveyBetween 2,320 and 2,470 people in every census since 2000.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Hickory Township’s Wikipedia page.
Nobody well known was born in Hickory Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Another post office, East Brook, opened and closed inside today’s town.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Hickory Township is more historic than 46% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
20% of Hickory Township’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.4 points), against a typical 18% for a Pennsylvania town; the median home was built in 1966.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (3), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2024
2008
2007
